My grand design
At Carsington Water, Jack & Charlie can do anything. Build dens, play hide and seek and search for dragons on Stones Island.
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Chwilio
My VIP pass
With her waterproof map on her wrist, Heather doesn’t have to splash out to go on safari. She gets exclusive access to Kimmeridge Bay’s secret world of ever-changing marine wildlife.
Tope shark
This slender and elegant shark species is often found close to shore all around our coasts and can grow up to 6 feet long.
Wild carrot
Wild carrot does, indeed, smell of carrots, but the roots are not like our cultivated, dinnertime favourite. Look for this umbellifer on chalk grasslands and coasts.
My hair of the dog
After a Friday night out on the town, James and Claire love a brisk morning walk at Newlands Corner to blow away the cobwebs.
Brown hawker
A common dragonfly of canals, marshes, reedbeds and lakes, the Brown hawker can be seen patrolling the water or 'hawking' through woodland rides. It is easily distinguished by its…
Common pond skater
The common pond skater can be seen 'skating' over the surface of ponds, lakes, ditches and slow-moving rivers. It is predatory, feeding on small insects by detecting vibrations in the…
Greater burdock
Greater burdock is familiar to us as the sticky plant that children delight in, frequently throwing the burs at each other. It actually uses these hooked seed heads to help disperse its seeds.
Meadow pipit
The meadow pipit favours moorland and grassland. It is an unfortunate victim of cuckolding behaviour - their own young being pushed out of the nest, so they can look after the 'parasitic…
River lamprey
The river lamprey is a primitive, jawless fish, with a round, sucker-mouth which it uses to attach to other fish to feed from them. Adults live in the sea and return to freshwater to spawn.
Raised bog
Unlike blanket bog, which smothers vast tracts of the uplands, raised bogs are discrete entities, often individually named, and are mostly found within agricultural landscapes in the lowlands.
Flowering rush
Flowering rush is a pretty rush-like plant of shallow wetland habitats, such as ponds, canals and ditches. Its cup-shaped, pink flowers appear in summer, brightening up the water's edge.